I don’t see why this would need its own app, and I don’t imagine that this will be a big winner for Meta, if it does go ahead with the project. But Meta has confirmed that it is internally experimenting with a new, separate app called Instants, which would enable users to share quick snaps with their connections.
As displayed in this listing, which was shared by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi, among Meta’s display of other apps (accessed via Instagram), there’s a mention of Instants, which is not released publicly as yet.
Instants is essentially a renamed version of Shots, which was a feature that Meta tried out in Instagram last year.
Shots is a “no-edit, no-filter” image-sharing option, which enables IG users to quickly send a picture to a friend. That friend is then only able to view the image once before it disappears from existence.
So it’s kind of like a mix of BeReal and Snapchat, which is designed to prompt spontaneous interaction in the app, and get people sharing more often, though it seemingly hasn’t caught on in any major way, as it hasn’t seen a broad rollout.
But maybe, the data showed that young users, in particular, liked it. And maybe, that’s now prompted Instagram to now consider a separate app, in order to avoid Instagram getting too complicated, and to encourage more dedicated use of image sharing as a simple engagement option.
Whatever the reason, it does seem like Meta is at least toying with the idea, with Meta confirming to Business Insider that this is in the experimental phase, though there are no plans for a public release, nor more insight into how that separate app would look and function.
But we can assume that it will be a refined version of Shots, and if that didn’t grab your attention, I doubt that Instants is going to either.
But again, Meta is super keen to engage the young’uns, and if there’s any evidence that quick image sharing was resonating with them, you can also assume that they’re going to double down on it.
We’ll keep you updated on any progress.
